John Howard (District of Columbia)
John P. Howard III is a judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on August 5, 2021, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 8, 2022, by a vote of 62-34.[1][2][3][4] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the court of last resort in Washington, D.C. To learn more about the court, click here.
Prior to his nomination, Howard was an administrative law judge at the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings.[2]
On June 25, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Howard to a seat on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Howard's nomination was withdrawn on February 4, 2021.[5]
Judicial nominations and appointments
District of Columbia Court of Appeals (2022-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden
On August 5, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Howard to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.[2] He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 8, 2022, by a 62-34 vote. Howard received commission on February 18, 2022. To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: John Howard |
| Court: District of Columbia Court of Appeals |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 187 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: August 5, 2021
|
| ABA Rating: N/A
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: December 2, 2021
|
| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: December 15, 2021
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| Confirmed: February 8, 2022
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| Vote: 62-34
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Howard by a vote of 62-34 on February 8, 2022.[4] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Howard confirmation vote (February 8, 2022) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
46 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
 Republican |
14 | 34 | 2 | ||||||
 Independent |
2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 62 | 34 | 4 | ||||||
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held hearings on Howard's nomination on December 2, 2021. The committee voted to advance Howard's nomination to the full Senate on December 15, 2021.
Nomination
On August 5, 2021, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Howard to a seat on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.[2] The president officially nominated Howard on the same day.[3]
Howard was nominated to replace Judge Phyllis Thompson, whose term expired on September 4, 2021.[3]
District of Columbia Court of Appeals (2020)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
On June 25, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Howard to a seat on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.[6] Howard's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2021. The president renominated Howard on the same day. Howard's nomination was withdrawn on February 4, 2021.[7]
Nomination
Howard was nominated to replace Judge Kathryn Oberly, who retired December 15, 2013.[6][8] Howard's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2021.[9] The president renominated Howard on January 3.[10]
Biography
Education
Howard earned his B.A. in political science from Howard University in 2006 and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2010.[11]
Professional career
- 2022-present: Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- 2018-2022: Administrative law judge, District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings
- 2014-2018: Administrate law judge, D.C. Commission on Human Rights
- 2012-2014: Attorney, The Law Office of J.P. Howard
- 2011-2012: Associate, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP[11]
Upon graduation from law school, Howard served as a law clerk to Judge Alexander Williams on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.[3]
About the court
This court handles local matters related to the District of Columbia. For information on the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia, click here.
| District of Columbia Court of Appeals |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 9 |
| Founded: 1970 |
| Location: Washington, D.C. |
| Salary |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: U.S. President appoints, U.S. Senate confirms |
| Term: 15 years |
| Active justices |
| Corinne Ann Beckwith, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Joshua Deahl, Catharine Friend Easterly, John P. Howard III, Roy W. McLeese, Vijay Shanker |
Established by Congress in 1970, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the court of last resort in Washington, D.C., and has nine judgeships. The current chief of the court is Anna Blackburne-Rigsby.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals meets in the Historic Courthouse.[12]
As of September 2021, in Washington, D.C., court of appeals justices are selected through an assisted appointment method, where the President selects an appointee from a list provided by a nominating commission. The appointee must then be approved by the U.S. Senate. To read more about this system of selection, click here.
The D.C. Court of Appeals reviews all final orders, judgments and specified interlocutory orders of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and answers questions of law certified by federal and state appellate courts. Additionally, the court may review decisions made by D.C. administrative agencies, boards, and commissions.
Cases are heard by randomly chosen three-judge panels except when it is requested and ordered by a majority of judges in regular active service that the court sit en banc. This may occur when it is deemed that the full court is needed to maintain uniformity of its decisions, or if the case is of noteworthy importance.[13]
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Twitter.com, "Senate Press Gallery @SenatePress," February 8, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The White House, "President Biden Names Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees," August 5, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The White House, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," August 5, 2021 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "nom" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Congress.gov, "PN996 — John P. Howard III — The Judiciary," accessed August 6, 2021
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN14 — John P. Howard III — The Judiciary," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Congress.gov, "PN2064 — John P. Howard III — The Judiciary," accessed June 26, 2020
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN14 — John P. Howard III — The Judiciary," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ DC.gov, "Notice of Judicial Vacancies on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals," December 6, 2019
- ↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
- ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "Thirty Nominations Sent to the Senate," January 3, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 LinkedIn, "J.P. Howard," accessed June 26, 2020
- ↑ District of Columbia Courts, "Historic Courthouse," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ District of Columbia Courts, "About the Court of Appeals," accessed January 28, 2015
